


In the Dark

by Anonymous



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Fantasy Kingdoms, M/M, Mistaken Identity, Misunderstandings, Naive Otabek Altin, No Sex, SPOILERS no actual OtabekxVictor, Slight dub-con because of, and other unspecified things, spoilers in the tags
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-12
Updated: 2019-04-12
Packaged: 2020-01-12 08:23:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18442724
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: After losing most of his siblings to the so-called family curse, Otabek travels east to marry Prince Victor in place of his sisters, only to find him trying to escape. Will he be able to convince him to stay?





	In the Dark

Otabek has known for years that he would be required to make the trip east to the Seaside Kingdom with the rest of the family, but up until that last week, he had thought it would be to his older sister’s wedding to Prince Victor, not his own.

It was so out of the realm of possibility that he still has trouble wrapping his head around it. For once, he never thought he would live to marry, most of his sixteen siblings hadn’t. Though given the way things have been going for the past few years, he might still not make it. Even if they arranged it for the next week.

Death could be waiting for him in every corner if the rumors of the curse placed on his family were to be believed. They weren’t, not one bit. If it were true, his sister would have died before her wedding, as the other three had, but she still lives somewhere, though they are not sure where. They hadn’t had enough time to find her.

They are lucky, really. How many people would accept the youngest son in marriage because of a lack of options? It’s a good deal. They also want the hostilities between their Kingdoms to stop, and they can aid each other in their respective problems. Together they are stronger. As much as he tells himself that, the fact remains that they can do without it but his Kingdom can’t. Not anymore. The current situation isn't what anyone had hoped for, but it is all they have.

Any other family would have taken offense or broken ties far before reaching this point. After his first sister was kidnapped and killed on her way to the wedding, the blame was put on the Seaside Kingdom. Things were tense for a long time, almost causing a war until they reached a new agreement. Then, shortly after betrothal, his second sister became pregnant from an affair at court and died in childbirth. It brought shame to their family and then filled them with grief. The third caused an enormous scandal after she killed the King and then herself a month before the wedding. It raised alarms all over, and they had to postpone everything again. And, after they somehow got another chance, his fourth and last sister ran away three weeks before the wedding and left them out of time and options. But they hadn’t taken offense, not them, they had just come up with a new deal. Though there have been rumors through the years that Prince Victor prefers male company, they were still surprised when the letter with the proposal arrived.

If they weren’t so desperate, it might never be allowed to stand with his people.

While he doesn’t expect a good marriage with him, that doesn’t mean they can't  _ try  _ to be friends. It can’t hurt to get to know him a little before they are to formalize. He might not be as difficult as they say.

There are no guards on the door when Otabek reaches it. He stands outside the Prince's room, trying to accept his fate, gather the courage, and go offer his lifelong friendship, however short that might be. They’ll have to make the best of it.

After taking several deep breaths to calm down, he feels in his pocket the gift he picked for when they are engaged tonight and finally knocks on the door. No one opens, but there are movements inside. The memory of his sister escaping the night before they were to leave through her bedroom window has him opening the door without hesitation.

On the other side of the room, right across from him, is Prince Victor. One of his legs is out the window, and he's already in position to lean out, about to escape. Just like she did. It can’t be allowed, he must do something.

“Prince Victor, wait!” He says, extending his hand. 

The Prince recovers fast from the surprise. He gets back on the floor, pulling out a dagger in a swift, fluid movement that takes his breath away.

He is nothing like Otabek pictured. Though he is supposed to be about ten years older than him, they look close in age. 

Over the years, his mother and sisters had talked about his appearance. He was a very handsome man, tall, with hair like silver and eyes like ice, they had said, time and time again, wondering how the children would look. But Prince Victor is nothing like that, not that it makes him any less beautiful. Even from across the room Otabek can tell he is shorter than him, and if he had to compare his hair and eyes to something, it would be to the sun and the grass.

Those eyes, it’s not easy to look away from them. They are fierce and seem to be calculating how to best dispose of him. The marriage might not be such a bad deal after all. Otabek has met them all of two seconds and is already willing to spend his life with him. As a friend or whatever he might prefer.

But that won’t happen unless he convinces him to stay. For their people; surely, he understands. Didn’t they ask for his opinion when they sent the proposal?

“Prince Victor, please don’t leave,” he pleads again, then realizes it is their first meeting. “I’m Prince Otabek, your betrothed.”

Prince Victor lowers his dagger and scowls.

“I thought we could get to know each other before we formalize things tonight. Please don’t run away, this is important for both our Kingdoms.”

“I was just going to explore the grounds, calm down. My family isn't the one that keeps breaking their promises anyway.” With a last glance outside, he puts the dagger away and closes the window. In careful steps, he makes his way to Otabek and grabs his arm.

For a moment, Otabek runs the risk of getting lost in his eyes and touch forever. A loud bang from under the bed breaks the spell, and after a few seconds, a dog runs out from under it. It flips over in front of them to be belly scratched.

“Stupid dog, if we stay, we’ll be bothered all night.” He starts to pull Otabek towards the corridor. “I know somewhere we can be alone. And call me Victor.”

Otabek follows him without question. On their way, they are almost seen several times. Each one Victor presses himself and Otabek to the walls and hides in the shadows until the danger of being caught has passed. In a way, it’s like being a child and playing with his siblings once again. Back when everyone was happy; before they started dying off one by one.

Victor’s pull on his arm takes him out of his memories. He’s led him to the garden. Instead of sitting on a bench nearby, Otabek ends up agreeing to sit within some of the plants. A space large enough for both of them to lie in, but that thanks to the shrubs and the threes, will keep them away from other’s eyes.

“So, why are you here? Hasn't your family insulted ours enough?” He sits on the ground with only his face in the light, not caring if his clothes get dirty, and eyes Otabek up and down.

“It was your family that asked mine to—”

“I just wanted to see how you would get out of this one. I never expected you to actually get here, and now I’m supposed to marry you? Doesn’t matter anyway, because it's not like anyone else will have me at this point, right? The entire world mutters behind my back. Getting engaged to the Prince is like signing your own death sentence. No one wants to be the next girl.”

“Believe me, we understand.” When the time came for his older brother to marry, they had had an extremely hard time finding someone willing. Even now, they aren’t sure where she is supposed to be from. As for Otabek himself, no one had agreed.

“I bet you do. You’re from that family, right? The cursed one? Why should I tie myself to you? Wouldn't that put me in danger too?”

Otabek sits next to him. A small amount of light is coming through the trees and if he moves his head a bit from side to side, he can peek at the moon, some stars, and even the clock tower. “The curse isn’t real.”

“Are you sure? Aren’t you the last one?” His tone is mocking, he is enjoying it too much.

Otabek frowns. When he was younger, he used to fear his family would die when he stopped looking at them, and then he would find himself all alone in the world, but that hasn’t happened yet. They will survive, he will not start to doubt it now. “No. My mother is still alive, and my brother, the King, is here with his wife. The Queen is pregnant with the future heir. You might meet them later if you decide to stay.”

He doesn't deny that he was escaping again. “Hm, your mother must have done something terrible, to have to see all her children die before her.”

Incredible that he chooses to focus on that. Things won’t be as easy as he had hoped.

“That’s enough. Let’s not talk about things that aren’t real.” He’s trying to provoke him to get out of their marriage, but Otabek won’t be made the cause of that. If he wants to end it, then he will have to say the words himself. He won’t be the one to break the deal, shame his family further, and doom his people. His sister has already taken that spot.

In the dim light, Victor raises his eyebrows and a placating hand at his tone, then leans back into the grass.

“Should I expect your bastard children running around while we are married?”

“I believe it was said in the letter we sent?”

“It didn't arrive.”

It is far more difficult to say it in person to someone he barely knows. “You won’t have to worry about that, my preferences lean elsewhere.” Hopefully, it’s dark enough he won’t notice his blood making its way to his face. Or the way his hands are trembling.

“I thought that wasn't allowed in your Kingdom.”

“It's not, yet that changes nothing.”

“Hm,” Victor turns away, the right side of his face taken by the shadows, and the silence stretches on.

“Even your prickly personality and rude comments haven’t been enough to shake my hope that we can be friends, and someday, maybe more.”

“Can’t say I don’t like the thought.” What looks like a smile passes so fast through his mouth that Otabek doubts it was real.

“Does that mean you’ll stay?”

“Can’t say that either, not entirely convinced yet. What happens if I say no?”

“Then our Kingdoms continue their hostilities until it escalates to a full-blown war neither can afford. My people will be doomed, and yours won’t fare much better in the long run.”

“Not holding anything back, are you?” He sighs, facing him again. His eyes are bright.

“I don’t see why I should.”

“I’ll be honest too then. Let’s say that something happens to your family— _ not saying that the curse is real _ —but let’s say something happens and you become King. What happens then? I’m comfortable here, and I don’t feel like leaving. Will you have to take someone else to leave an heir while I sit there watching? I don’t think so, sharing isn’t my thing. Do we annul the marriage because it’s a sham anyway? Then what’s the point of this thing. And what if you die while we are there and you are King? What if your people blame me for it as they did with your sister? What happens then? No one has done this in your land before, they won’t like me, it’s a stupid idea and nothing good can come of it.”

“Looks like you’ve already decided it won’t work.” Their chances are getting worse and worse the longer they talk. If he wants it to work, he’ll have to address some of his questions, no matter how much he wants to give him nothing. “It doesn’t have to be a sham. Those are valid concerns, but we don’t need to worry about them now. The immediate problem is securing the alliance, we’ll deal with others that present themselves as they do. We'll find something more permanent later. If all that does happen, we’re still better off than we would be otherwise.” Because then they’d just be dead.

“And what if—” his voice breaks, and for the first time, he seems scared. “What if I start to like you, or even love you, and then you die.”

Victor’s sad face tugs at his heart. Otabek holds his hand, and says, confident as possible, “That won’t happen.”

“Can you guarantee that, when you all seem to have the lifespan of a fruit fly?” One second, Victor’s face had been shy and scared, and the next it was full of hatred as he said those nasty words.

“That’s enough.” He stands up. “I’m going back to the castle. I’ll see you if you decide to stay, if not…” Otabek turns his eyes to him, looking down. What could he wish him? Nothing good, but he was not about to fall to his level either. “Good luck in your travels, I hope you won’t lose sleep over it.”

When he walks forward into the shrubs, ready to go the way they had come from, Victor yells at him to wait and pulls at his arm with surprising amounts of strength for someone so small and thin. Otabek loses his balance and ends up sitting back on the grass again.

It’s dark, and it takes him a moment to reorient himself and figure out why. Victor is straddling him, with his arms around his neck and his face right in front of his', blocking out all the light.

“I’m sorry,” he says, resting his forehead on his’. “I’m sorry.”

“No, let me go.” He tries to push him away, already tired of his game.

“Why? What good is fighting if we don’t get to kiss and make up?”

Kiss? The word worms its way through his ear and to his brain. It stops Otabek on his attempts to get free. “You mean…”

Victor rubs his face back and forth on his neck, much like a cat. “I’ll stay. I'll marry you, okay? You’re good, honest, and with a backbone, I’d be honored to be your husband.” He leaves a quick kiss on Otabek's cheek, then after a bit of hesitation, one closer to his mouth. He doesn’t want to forgive him yet, but it’s so hard to resist.

When Victor takes his left hand to his face, lightly feeling his way around it and touching his lips, chin, then jawline, Otabek decides to participate and kiss him. It's a short one, and Victor leans into it before he leans back abruptly, and then puts his forehead on his shoulder.

The moment goes a bit too long, and he's starting to think he should have done nothing when Victor lifts his head, puts both his hands on Otabek’s face and pulls him in onto another kiss. With a little moan, he pushes him away, only to pull him back in almost immediately.

Their kisses start to get longer, and a little intoxicating. He can’t stop his hands from clutching at his clothes and try to pull him as close as possible. They should stop before they lose all sense of time and place and become late to their own party. But a few seconds more should be fine. Only a minute or two. No one will notice.

Victor puts his hands on his throat and undoes his collar and shirt just enough that he can pull it open to suck and bite at his neck. With his field of vision open, the clock tower tells him it's only about an hour and a half until they are supposed to be at the party.

Otabek grabs Victor's shoulders to try and push him away long enough to clear his mind, but he starts to unbutton and pull his jacket off instead. When it’s off, he gets pushed down hard. Victor then grabs his wrists and pins them to the ground above his head before leaning back down to kiss him again. Otabek offers no resistance. Sometimes there are bites among the kisses, but they're nothing to complain about.

One of Victor's hands stays at his wrist while the other roams all over his torso, then eventually to his hips and even his butt. He's having such a hard time forming coherent thoughts by the time Victor pulls away, that it takes him a few seconds to realize he did and that he is looking away from him, and towards the clock tower.

“Shit, we're a mess and we need to be down at the ball in an hour.” He pants, trying to fix his hair, which Otabek can still feel in his hand. “We need to change and clean up and we've almost no time.”

Victor stands with his back to him. “I'll go first, then in about ten minutes you go. I'll see you in an hour.” He leaves without waiting for an answer.

Still dazed, Otabek leans back with a smile to look at the stars visible past the trees. They were off to a good start. It’s more than he could have hoped for when they set off the journey east.

Once the ten minutes pass, he makes it back into his own room. He didn't try to hide, others saw him, but besides throwing him a few odd glances, they said nothing.

Instead of changing his clothes right away, he opens the window and stands in front of it, enjoying the view. They are near the sea, and the cold breeze causes him to shiver and hug himself. He forgot his jacket down in the garden.

The docks are visible, with the sailing ships. He wonders for a second if his sister could be in one of them, off to start the life of adventure she always wanted. His door bursts open and he turns with a smile, half sure it's Victor, all ready to go down.

It's not. Otabek's brother strides into the room, the guards stay behind. He waits until the door has closed on them to embrace Otabek. The papers on his hand crunch behind his back as he pats him.

Before Otabek can ask, he steps away and drops the news. “Prince Victor was abducted from his own room, and you were nowhere to be found. I feared the worst.”

It's like being doused with cold water. “What?” Is all that he can say. Then, the doubts seep in. Was he really abducted? Or did he decide he didn't want to marry Otabek after all? Did he lie to him to get him off his back?

“It was earlier this afternoon. They tied up one of his servants and hid the poor girl under the bed. It wasn't until a while ago that we found the ransom note and then the girl, she confirmed everything.”

“Ransom note?” Not only is he running away, he is planning to worry his family, and also steal from his own people?

His brother hands him the note from among the papers in his hand. “I just wanted to make sure you were okay. I'll have people guarding you at all times but it would be easier if you could join Mother.”

“Listen, I don't think you need to worry so much or pay the ransom. I was with him until about half an hour ago and he was planning to leave. There's no need to play into his game.” There’s been enough of that for the night.

His brother frowns. “Are you sure? That servant girl swears on her life they took the Prince unconscious after their fight with him, and hours ago at that.” His frown intensifies to the point his eyebrows almost become one when he starts to notice his appearance. “What did you say you were doing with the Prince?”

“We were, uh… getting to know each other before anything was made official.”

“And how was he? How did you know he was planning to leave?”

He already told some, might as well tell it all. “I found him trying to escape out the window.”

“But you've never met Prince Victor before today. I've never met him at all.”

“What are you getting at?”

“How did you know that it was him?”

“Because he—” fit the description, he was going to say, but that is a lie. He didn't tell him who he was either, he didn’t tell him anything until Otabek shared his assumption. One that he made when he saw him in the room, with the right clothes and as beautiful as the stories said, though in a different way which  _ didn’t  _ fit the description.

“Otabek, how did the person you were with look like?”

They spent most of their time together in the dark, but he left such an impression Otabek could recall him as if he were standing right in front of him. “Short.” He indicates the height with his hand. “Blonde hair, more yellow than silver. Green, intense eyes. Very thin.” And very beautiful.

His brother starts flipping through the papers until he reaches one and hands it to him. “Was it him?”

Otabek looks down at it and recognizes the young man in it instantly, though the image doesn’t make justice to his eyes. In it, they just look flat and normal, without any of that enchanting quality. It's the man he spent one of the best nights of his life with. He nods.

“That's Yuri Plisetsky,” he says as Otabek reads the information. There isn’t much of it. “You're lucky he did nothing to you.”

“Yeah,” he half smiles. If completely shattering his heart and fucking over his Kingdom is nothing, then yeah, he's lucky. He's heard of Yuri Plisetsky, of course he has. He is a well-known, dangerous pirate. Even back home, his name is mentioned with fear along his Captain's, Yuuri Katsuki, the Terror of the Sea, but no one there really knows what they look like. No one had seen it fit to share the illustrated wanted posters with them. They aren’t close to the sea after all, and the pirates have never ventured that far inland.

“See? More proof that the curse isn’t real. You would be dead by now if it were.” He says it more to convince himself than Otabek.

When he is done looking at the other pirates, he sits on his bed and lets out a sigh.

Instantly, his brother drops what’s left of his dignified pose, puts his hands to his face to rub at his eyes and sits next to him. “I can't believe you were having a roll in the hay with an infamous pirate while your betrothed was in danger.”

“We weren't—” He stops talking when his brother turns to give him a  _ look _ . Then it gets a little odd.

“Otabek, where is your chain?” As if to illustrate and with a bit of struggle, he pulls his own chain from under his tight collar. Gold, delicate, and with them since the day they were born. Their parents had given one to all seventeen of them.

After frantically trying to find it by touch and failing, Otabek heads to the mirror. It's not there, there’s only a hickey in its place. He checks his wrist for his watch, which also isn't there. Then takes his hands to his pockets. The engagement gift for Victor is gone too. As is anything of value that he might have had with him during the day. Leaning on the wall, he tries to process it. “So that's why he got so handsy.”

The silence is long until his brother can't hold it back and giggles, Otabek soon follows and slides to the floor. The day can't possibly get worse.

“I'll go talk to the King and Queen. When we agree on a plan of action, I'll inform you. I’m glad you’re okay.”

Otabek nods and his brother leaves the room. He sighs and sticks his hand on his back pocket. He felt it there when he first sat down. Something that wasn't there before, and it’s not the bruises from being thrown to the ground.

It's a coin, the same size as any other, but made of crystal that when held up to eye level, shows beautiful patterns in a thin, white thread. It comes with a crumpled note. Dirty, a bit torn and hastily written.

“For safe passage.”

It doesn't explain much. Is he supposed to know already? Maybe a native from the Kingdom would know. He's just an easily fooled foreigner. And when did he have time to write that and slip it in? Was Otabek that out of it?

When his brother comes back, all he's done is move from his spot on the floor to one on the bed.

“The King and Queen are sending someone to pay the ransom, but they also want you to go.”

“Me?”

“They say they can't be caught sending someone, and aren't really willing to pay the ransom, they are only pretending to. The Kingdom is in too much economic trouble for that. If you go, the alliance is official, even if you don't succeed. If you can’t find a way to bring Prince Victor back… you must kill him.”

“I'll do it.” There is nothing to think about. Anything for his people.

“If you’re sure.” His brother sighs but doesn't try to persuade him not to. “Good luck, brother,” he says before leaving.

Otabek flips the coin over and over between his fingers. Looks like they'll be seeing each other again.

**Author's Note:**

> That curse is totally real. Will Otabek get to Yuri before it takes him? Will he become King first?
> 
> Fun thing I learned writing this: giving someone a green gown is/was an euphemism for having sex on the grass/hillside.
> 
> This kept trying to become a multichapter, but I have too much unfinished stuff right now. I'll keep working on it and post it if I finish it.
> 
> [My other stuff.](https://april-storm-af.tumblr.com/Fanfic)


End file.
